Cylinder press motion



Patented June 18, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT" GFFI-{CE CYLINDER. PREss MOTION 7 Arthur G. Bowles, Oakland, Calif. Application February 14, 1934, Serial No. 111,147

13Claims. (error-282) 1 A This invention relates to printing presses of the cylindertypeprovided with a reciprocating bed or platen and the objects of the invention are to provide improvements in the motion controlling means for such presses whereby the cylinder will make one or more revolutions during the printing stroke of the-bed so that oneor more colors or impressions can be printed from as many forms without releasing the paper from the cylinder. Also means for rapidly returning the bed while the cylinder continues to revolve out of gear with the bed, while alwaysin gear with the bed driving means, yet comes ingear with the bed at the start of each printing stroke. Also such a pressin which the number of revolutions of the cylinder on the return stroke of the bed may be less. than on the printing. stroke. Also positive means for maintaining the reglsteredrelation of the gearingduring the printing stroke whereby the same two teeth of cylindergear and bed rack more revolutions duringthe printing stroke than on the return, Also in such a press movement means for obtaining an extra long stroke for handling an extra long bed with forms arranged in tandem. Also such a press which will be free from objectionable shock at the'ends of the stroke. Other features and advantages of my construction will appear. in the following description and accompanying drawing.

In the drawing a threeerevolution cylinder press adaptedto'print from two forms arranged in tandem is shown by way of example to illustrate the invention. 7 g i Fig. l. is a'longitudinal elevation showingthe driving gears,

ment.

Fig. 2 isa cross section of Fig. 1 as seen from the line 2,-2' of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a cross section of Fig. 1 as seen from the line ,3-,-3-0f Fig. l.

Briefly described the improvements may be said to be a combination of reciprocable press bed with throw multiplying rack and pinion operated by a special crank arm arrangement for quick return, 'andya one-way constantly revolvable impresslOncylindergeared. to a rack 'on the bed to make one or more revolutions (as predetermined by the gear ratio, bed throw and cylinder diameter) during the printing stroke so as to pick up one or more forms in register arranged on the bed in tandem, and the cylinder disengaged from the bed during the quick return, while always in gear with the driving crankwheelthrough. means bed; racks, et'c., of the pressmovef press frame l.

of a differential gear which has its output automatically varied to permit and cause varying degrees of rotation of the cylinder respectively for theprinting and return stroke of the bed yet insurecorrect meshing of the cylinder gear and bed rack teeth at the beginning of each printing stroke. In the'drawing only so much of the conven-. tional press parts are shown as are necessary to illustrate my improved'motion, as otherwise the drawing would become too confusing. Also, the gearing at but one side of the press is generally shown, though it is tobe understood that it may be duplicated on both sides, or its equivalent used for raising and lowering the cylinder from print ing relation to the bed. f

The various shafts, bearings or fulcrums and parts which arefixed are shown in the drawing as supported on a fragmentary portion of the frame'o'f the press'and these portions are all designated l. The reciprocablebed 2 is supported on suitable guides 2 and fitted with upper rack or racks 3 engaging thecyl inder gears 4' atthe ends of theimpression cylinder 5 for running in' register therewith during the printing stroke, while secured to the under side of the bed are racks S for giving motion to the bed from one or two horizontally traveling spur gears i moved' back and forth by means of a pitman 8 pivotally connected, at its other end with the upper end of an upstanding lever 9 pivoted at its lower end to the frame at H) and which lever is oscillated from the solid line to the dotted line position of Fig. 1 by means of a crank pin I I fixed to and extend-- ing between two revolvablecrank disks I2 arranged on opposite sides'of the lever with the pin H passing through a roller or bearing block 13 slidable in a slot Min the lever so that upon rotation of the disks '12 the lever will be oscillatedand thereby move gears 1- back and forth.

The connection of pitman 8 to gears I is a' pivotal one around a short shaft l5 to which spur gears 7 are secured and-to which shaft a pair of smaller spur gears or pinions lS'are also securedand which pinions roll in. engagement with a pair of fixed racks I 1'- securedto suitable parts of the The pinions I6 are about half' the size of gears? so that the travel of the pitman is thus multiplied by about three on the bed.

Also, since lever 9 to which the pitman is pivoted is itself pivoted but a short distancebelow the crank disks l2 it follows that while it'takes a considerableportion of the crank disk revolu-I tion. (about %ths) to advance the bed to the right (the. printing: stroke). the return is made much quicker as the crank pin is operating closer to the lever pivot ID, in fact requiring about fl ths of a revolution of the disks with the particular pivoting of the lever shown, though this could be made even less with closer setting of pivot H! to outwardly projecting axles l8 of the crank disks. This crank and sliding box arrangement forms a gradual absorber of .the shock of the bed reversing at ends of stroke though additional shock absorbers or dash pots may be used in the manner well understood in the art if desired.

Crank disks l2 are also provided with spur gear teeth l9 as they are also the main driving wheels of the press movement and may receive power from a pair of spur pinions on a drive shaft 2| receiving its power from any desired source and suitably controlled in any suitable manner as well understood.

With the above described features, it is now necessary to lift or otherwise disengage the .cylinder gear 4 from the upper bed rack 3 at the end of the printing stroke to permit the beds quick return without reversing the-cylinder, and it is also necessary to keep the cylinder going so as to discharge and take on a new sheet of paper and replace its gear in mesh with the self-same teeth at the start of the next printing stroke, and the means for doing this will now be described.

. The press movement is all operated from the driving gears H) on crank disks l2 as these control the reciprocation of the bed with which all must-be synchronized, and to this end one of these gears is in mesh with the outer or master gear 22 of a differential gear assembly which includes a. revolvable frame or casing 23 to which the master gear 22 is secured, and which casing carries within it two confronting bevel gears 41, 48in mesh with idler pinions 49 also carried by the casing. Bevel gears 41, 48 are respectively securedto the inner ends of the two output shafts of the differential which are respectively numbered 24- and 25 and on the latter of which gear 2 2'is freely supported. The proportions of gears |9-22 are'such that one revolution of the disks l2 will revolve the differential casing 1 revolutions and output shaft 24 three times if output shaft 25 were held from turning, and which is done under special controlled means as will later be described. Output shaft 24 carries at its outer end a spur gear 26 in mesh with an idler gear 21 in turn meshing with a gear 28 of the same diameter as gear 26 and secured to the shaft 29 of the cylinder and which shaft also carries a pin- 'slidable vertically in guides 34 formed in the press frame and through the upper portion of which block the cylinder shaft 29 projects and has bearing, all so that the cylinder and its gears 4, 28 and 30, together with large gear 3| and its stub shaft 32may all rise and fall with the blocks (the other side of press being duplicated) to disengage or engage the bed rack 3 with gear 4, and which is normally effected by means of a circular cam 35 secured to the inner side of gear 3| and which at a certain part of the revolution rides over a roller 36 mounted on a fixed pin 31 projecting from the frame I and bodily lifts the assembly." For the tw'ocolor or three revolution cylinder press now under consideration and wherein the cylinder makes about two revolutions during the'printing stroke and the third one on the return stroke, the gears are of such proportion that gear 3| will revolve one complete revolution during a complete cycle of the press (forward and backward movement of bed from starting point) and therefore cam 35 is of a length equal to about one-third of the circumference of its position on gear 3| and in proper setting to just come into operation at the end of the forward or printing stroke of the bed and thus hold the cylinder out of gear during the return stroke. As soon as the cam has passed over the fixed or fulcrum roller 36 a heavy spring 38 (one on each side of the press) forces the assemblage downward to re-engage the cylinder gear 4 with bed rack 3.

At this point it may be mentioned that any suitable emergency release or throw-off may also be provided such as an additional cam 39 revolvably mounted on pin 37 and provided at some accessible point with a rod or handle 40 by means of which it may be manually operated. With the above arrangement of gearing each revolution of crank disks l2 would reciprocate the bed and revolve the cylinder three revolutions or one revolution at each third of a turn of the crank disks if the cylinder were held out of gear with the bed rack and if the other output shaft 25 of the differential were locked against turning. However, as it is required that the cylinder make about two revolutions while in gear with and during the one way printing stroke of the bed to pick up two forms arranged in tandem it follows that the moment the cylinder is lowered the bed becomes the driver and revolves gear 4 as well as gears 28 and 26 to make about two revolutions during a time interval in which they would normally make but about 1 if the other output differential shaft (25) was locked. This extra forward motion of the gears from output shaft 24 would, by working through the differential, tend to move shaft 25 in the reverse direction a sufficient amount to compensate for it, and I make use of this fact by suitably controlling the backward movement of shaft 25 during the increased movement period (the printing stroke) of gears 26 etc., and do this by securing a spur pinion 4| on shaft 25 meshing with a quadrant 42 carried at one end of a lever 43 pivoted at 44 to the frame I and at its opposite end provided with a roller 45 operating in a cam groove 46 in the outer face of one of the disk gears |2, the proportion, pivoting of the lever and shape of the cam being such as to permit reverse turning of shaft 25 in the present showing of a twocolor press of about one-half turn and then to turn the shaft back again to starting point just as the bed is about to begin a new printing stroke. This puts all gear teeth in exactly the same relation' at the moment the cylinder gear 4 engages the first tooth of the bed rack 3. Where the design of the press and gear ratios required but slight compensation through the differential the quadrant lever 43 and pinion 4| could give way to a plain leverldirectly secured to shaft 25. The proportions of the gearing may be such as to provide any desired number of revolutions of the cylinder on the printing stroke as against any desired number on the return stroke. It is evident that while I show the cylinder as lifting to disengage it from the bed rack the same thing would be accomplished by dropping the bed, and which arrangement could easily be substituted by anyone familiar with the art.

Also to be noted is that instead of the cylinder being raised by a cam and lowered by a spring, these features may be reversed, or a double-acting cam may be used, as my invention is not press eonstrue eni- "In th t re -r vo ut n c linde pr s m v me i above de c bed, m t m n ha t cylin e makes ab u wo lu ns n th bed, rather than two revolutions is, because the cy ind r make one mp e e ution to pick up the first form and then continues to take li -the. ec nd for in re st r wit he fi thou h the sec d olution eed ly be enough to clear the effective impression surface of the cylinder (allowing for the grippers, etc.), so as to' start on the return stroke without loss of time, and which ordinarily would put a little more than one revolution on the return stroke. The same princi l a pl e to es r ed orr I than two forms in tandem, andsome of th advantages of my invention may be secured in two revolutions on one color presses and wherein there may thus be a greater degreofrevolv- -g; ef -thecylinder on the quick return'stroke ent r p n in s k t. is also evid n nst l t e n tai s of p ess r tion re h n the paper, ink, forms, etc., are to be embodied a press prov ded w th m p o d ov t and accordingly the disclosure is confined to the features of the movement which I believe to be new in the art shown with enough of the common construction to make them operative.

I claim: i

l. A cylinder press movement comprising a reciprocable bed, guides supporting the bed, means for reciprocating the bed, a rack secured along the edge of the bed, an impression cylinder geared to said rack in the printing stroke, means disengaging said cylinder from the rack during the return stroke,s aid bed being of a length to revolve said cylinder more than one revolution thereagainst during one printing stroke for printing in register on one place on the cylinder from forms in tandem, means continuing the revolution of said cylinder about one turn during the return stroke of said bed, and means reengaging the cylinder gear to said rack in register for repetition of the printing stroke as above.

2. In the construction specified in claim 1, the means for reciprocating the bed including a revolvable crank disk and connections from the crank to the bed arranged to cause a quicker return movement of the bed, and driving gearing between said crank disk and said cylinder always in mesh.

3. In the construction specified in claim 1, the means for reciprocating the bed including a revolvable crank disk and connections from the crank to the bed arranged to cause a quicker return movement of the bed, gearing between said crank disk and said cylinder always in mesh including a differential gear assembly, and means automatically controlling the output of said assembly to provide for the increased number of revolutions of the cylinder during the printing stroke.

4. A cylinder press movement comprising a reciprocable bed and a-cylinder geared to a rack thereon, means for reciprocating said bed including a crank disk, connections from the crank disk to said bed, driving gearing between said crank disk and said cylinder always in mesh, means for throwing the cylinder and bed rack out of gear during the return stroke of the bed, said gearing including differential gearing arranged to permit said cylinder to make more revolutions during one stroke of the bed than during the other stroke.

, of the bed.

5. ,A cylinder press movementcomprising a re-. ciprocable bed and a cylinder. geared to, a rack thereon, means for reciprocatingfsaid bedincluding a crank disk, connections from-the crank disk to said bed, driving gearing betweensaidgcrank disk and said cylinder always in mesh, meansior throwing the cylinder and bed rack out of gear during the return stroke of thebed, saidgearing including differential gearing arranged to permit said cylinder to make more revolutions during the printing stroke of the bed than during thereturn stroke. 1 I :2:

6. A cylinder press movement comprising are ciprocablebcd and ai'cylinder geared toa rack thereon, means for reciprocating said bed include ing a crank disk, connections fromthe crank disk to said bed, drivinggearing between said crank disk and said cylinder always in mesh, meansfor throwing,thecylinde'r and bed rack out of gear during the returnstroke of the bed; said gearing shafts, said crank diskgeared to the master gear of the differential, and one-of its output shafts geared to'the press cylinder, and means controllingthe movementof. the other output shaft of the differential to permit the different number of revolutions of the cylinder in the opposite strokes 8. In a construction as specified in claim 4, said differential gearing including a master gear'carrying around an idler pinion in mesh with a pair of gears respectively carried by one of two output shafts, said crank disk geared to the master gear of the differential, and one of its output shafts geared to the press cylinder, means controlling the movement of the other output shaft of the differential to permit the different number of revolutions of the cylinder in the opposite strokes of the bed and bringing said second output shaft to precise position at the beginning of each printing stroke for correct remeshing of the cylinder and rack.

9. In a construction as specified in claim 4, said connections from the crank disk to the bed including a pitman operated by the crank disk and,

with one end extending under the bed, a pinion gear revolvably carried by said end of the pitman, a larger gear secured'to the pinion to rotate therewith, a fixed rack with which one edge of said pinion gear engages and a rack secured to the 7 bed engaged by said larger gear whereby the movement of the bed is greatly increased'over closer to the fixed pivotal point of the lever during the return stroke for a quicker return than a printing stroke.

10. A cylinder press movement comprising a flat reciprocably mounted bed, an impression cylinder geared to a rack on the bed, said bed being of a length to revolve the cylinder more than one 75 revolution thereagainst during the printing stroke so as to bring the same impression area on the cylinder more than once against the bed, a revolvable crank disk, means connecting the crank disk and bed arranged and adapted to move the bed in its printing stroke during a'major part of a revolution of said crank disk and return the bed during a minor part of said revolution, and means disengaging the cylinder and bed rack during the return stroke;

11. A cylinder press movement comprising a flat reciprocably mounted bed, a cylinder geared to a rack on the bed, said bed being of a length to revolve thecylinder more than one revolution thereagainst during the printing stroke, a revolvablecrank disk, means connecting the crank disk and bed arranged and adapted to move the bed in its printing stroke during a major part of a revolution of said crank disk and return the bed during a minor part of said revolution, differential gearing positively connecting the crank disk and said cylinder at all times, and means disengaging the cylinder and bed rack during the return stroke of the bed.

12. In a construction as specified in' claim 11, said differential gearing including a master gear carrying around an idler pinion in mesh with a pair of gears respectively carried by one of two output shafts, said crank disk geared to the master gear of said diiferential and one of the output shafts geared to said cylinder, and means controlling and forcing partial rotation of the other output shaft of the differential whereby but about one revolution of the cylinder is produced during the return stroke of the bed.

13. In a construction as specified in claim 4, said differential gearing including a master gear carrying around an idler pinion in mesh with a pair of gears respectively carried by one of two output shafts, said crank disk geared to the master gear of the difierential, and one of its output shafts geared to the press cylinder, means controlling the movement of the other output shaft of the differential to permit the different number of revolutions of the cylinder in the opposite strokes of the bed comprising a gear secured to said second output shaft, a lever pivoted to a fixed point provided with a quadrant at one end engaging said gear, and the other end of said lever extended adjacent said crank disk, and a cam on said crank disk controlling and forcing movement of said lever.

ARTHUR G. BOWLES. 

